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Computer won't boot

I recently removed one of two hard drives in a Pentium computer and, in attempting to reconfigure the BIOS, I have "lost" my computer. I am unable to boot, even to the floppy. When powered up, I can hear the drive spinning up and the CD light comes on for a minute or so, but no activity on the floppy. Nothing appears on the monitor, nothing at all. Is there any way to "force" a floppy bootup? I have good floppy boot disks, but if I can't get the computer to actually check the floppy drive, they're of little use.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

alexiad

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MartinS

ASKER

Yes - I agree. That was actually the first thing I tried. When that was unsuccessful, I then separated each connector, inspected for any bent pins, and then reconnected them. No joy. The system whirrs and putters a little when powered up, but no monitor activity and no indication of a boot-up in progress. Thanks.

alexiad

Try to start the computer with no cables connected. If it still does nothing, you can try removing the expansion cards (even the vga card) one by one and starting the computer in between. Note that AGP cards can cause this behavior easily since their series of pins is double. It is easy for them not to be seated properly.

MartinS

ASKER

Viola! Disconnecting all cables had no effect. Removing the ONLY expansion card (the modem) resulted in a boot-up! Well, of sorts - the best it can do without any drives attached. Thank you kindly for continuing the quest.

alexiad

OK. Now put everything back except the modem. Try to put the modem in another slot.

MartinS

ASKER

Runs like it was brand new. Again, thank you for the support.